CALIFORNIA – In an interview with the Mercury News eight years a, William Lynch said that he was so angry at the priest he had sued for molesting him as a child that “I could kill him with my bare hands.”

Lynch surrendered today to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies who suspect him of tracking the Rev. Jerold Lindner to the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos in May and pummeling the 65-year-old retired cleric so badly that he ended up in the hospital.

Lynch, 44, of San Francisco, was booked on suspicion of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, a felony, and was given a bail of $25,000. There is no scheduled arraignment.

The retired priest’s condition after the attack was unclear today and he could not be reached for comment.

The vigilante attack on Lindner reportedly happened May 10, when Lynch called the Jesuit retirement home, identifying himself as “Eric.” He pretending to have a “death notification” for the elderly priest, officials said.

The person who answered the phone confirmed Linder was there.

Lynch then showed up and confronted the priest.

“Do you remember me?” he reportedly said.

The priest said he didn’t.

Then, Lynch allegedly said “You abused me and my brother.”

And then he attacked, sheriff’s officials said, beating Lindner with his fists so badly that he left Lidner’s body covered with bruises.

After Lynch fled, police were called. Lynch was reportedlyAdvertisementinterviewed by deputies on Oct. 18.

Soon afterward, Lynch’s surrender was arranged through his attorney.

Santa Clara County sheriff’s did not have an immediate answer why it took so long to find Lynch, who had sued Lindner for the abuse years ago.

Lynch could not be reached for comment Friday.

But in 2002, Lynch told the Mrecury News that he has suffered decades of psychological trauma and attempted suicide over his abuse.

Lynch accused Lindner of abusing he and his brother when during a church-led, family camping trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1975.

He said he and his then-4-year-old brother were sodomized by Lindner, forced to perform sexual acts on each other, and told they would go to hell if they told anyone what happened.

Lindner was removed from active ministry in Los Angeles in 1997 in response to a civil suit filed by Lynch that year. He was reportedly sent to the Jesuit Center in 2002.

Jesuit officials reportedly agreed to a confidential settlement.

A 2002 Los Angeles Times report said Lindner has abused children, including members of his own family, since the 1950s.

WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly 18 billion dollars earmarked for reconstruction in Afghanistan remain unaccounted for, snagged in a “labyrinth” of contract bureaucracy, a sweeping US government audit has shown.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said 17.7 billion dollars was obligated over three years to nearly 7,000 contractors, but the Pentagon, State Department and US Agency for International Development were unable to say how much money has been spent.

The audit addresses fiscal years 2007 through 2009, but the problems go back to 2002 when the United States began funding Afghan reconstruction, because “much of the data available from the agencies prior to 2007 was too poor to be analyzed,” the report said.

And years into the reconstruction there is still no central government database to monitor the projects from various US agencies and departments, SIGAR found in its report, which was seen Thursday by AFP.

“Prior to this audit report there was no comprehensive study on contractors and the money the US is spending through contractors on Afghan reconstruction,” said special inspector general Arnold Fields in the first such snapshot of the reconstruction contracting environment in war-torn Afghanistan.

“This audit is crucial because if we don’t even know who we’re giving money to, it is nearly impossible to conduct system-wide oversight.”

Reconstruction is a key component in a US-led anti-insurgency effort which seeks to stabilize the volatile south and east of Afghanistan, in part by helping Afghan farmers and improving local government.

Asked about the report, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said it did not come as a surprise and that the administration has been working to improve accountability.

“I don’t think we’re surprised that as we’re going through this, we’re going to have reports like this that show weaknesses,” Crowley told reporters.

He said the report would contribute to “our efforts to improve our cooperation with the Afghan government and improve the ability of the Afghan government to be responsible and accountable for the support that we do provide.”

The SIGAR said its report, addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and US ambassador to Baghdad Karl Eikenberry, “shows that navigating the confusing labyrinth of government contracting is difficult, at best.”

It said the Department of Defense alone has four organizations set up to track Pentagon-funded contracts, but they do not share information. Cross-agency information sharing is also minimal, it found.

SIGAR, mandated by Congress to try and track reconstruction spending, identified nearly 7,000 contractor groups, including for-profit and non-profit groups as well as government agencies involved in Afghanistan.

Among the largest contracts, it said, is a deal worth 1.8 billion dollars to a US-based company to train Afghanistan’s national police forces, and 691 million dollars to an Afghan construction firm to build military facilities.

The future of the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan is believed to be in jeopardy because of President Hamid Karzai’s threatened ban on private security guards, which aid organizations rely on for protection.

FULTON COUNTY, NEW YORK – Some state workers make almost $90k to watch over juvenile detention facilities with no kids inside.

Taxpayers shell out about $3 million dollars a year to keep Tryon Detention Center open. Tryon is a juvenile detention facility located upstate New York in Fulton County.

And you can thank the New York State legislature for that bill. NY State Executive Law 501(15) requires the Office of Children’s and Family Services to give at least 12 months notice before closing any facility. So even if the facility has zero kids inside by law it cannot be closed for at least a year.

When asked about it Tryon’s union rep Frank Malagisi said, “No it’s not weird. That’s to look out for people’s families, New York State taxpayers’ families. You wouldn’t want someone to come to you and say you are out of a job tomorrow.”

When it comes to State Detention Facilities the empty Tryon Facility is the rule not the exception.

Commissioner Gladys Carrion tells Fox 5 News, “I inherited a system that has been a failure by any measure.”

Carrion says since 2008 she began reforms that included closing 16 upstate centers and group homes- saving $58 million dollars over a 2-year period.

But still only 661 juveniles are in the state system, and because of union rules and state law 2,134 employees watch over them. That comes to a cost of $228,000 dollars a year per kid in a secure facility and $298,000 dollars a year per kid in a non-secure facility. And all that money does little to keep these kids out of trouble, 88% of kids who leave the system get in trouble again.

Probation Commission Vincent Schiraldi tells Fox 5 News, “The quicker we can close these facilities that are underutilized, that are not good places for kids the more we will save the taxpayer.”

Right now it costs $169 million to run these facilities and New York City pays a big share of that cost- a share that city officials like Probation Commission Vincent Schiraldi want to cut down.

Schiraldi says, “Over the last 8 years we’ve reduced the number of kids in state run facilities by 62%. But the city is still going to pay 24 million more because the state keeps increasing the costs to pay for the staff that watch no kids.”

Commissioner Carrion tells Fox 5 News, “I think I could save a lot more money if I had the discretion to close facilities when we don’t need them anymore.”

But Commissioner Carrion’s cost cutting efforts make her a punching bag for unions that represent civil servants. C.S.E.A.’s representative, Stephen Madarasz says Carrion’s handling of the issue is “simply reckless and irresponsible.” And the unions have the support of many of the local legislators who have constituents that benefit from the relatively high-paying jobs.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK – The state-appointed authority overseeing Buffalo public school finances says taxpayer-covered cosmetic surgery rung up by the city’s teachers totaled nearly $9 million in 2009.

The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority reports that last year’s costs for such elective procedures as chemical peels and other skin treatments are up $8 million over the 2004 tab for cosmetic surgery provided under the teachers’ union contract.

School district officials say teachers or their dependents accounted for 90 percent of the approximately 500 people who received cosmetic surgery last year. About 10,000 district employees are eligible for the benefit.

The president of the teachers’ union says the union has agreed to give up the benefit in the next contract.

LOS RAMONES, MEXICO – The entire police force in a small Mexican town abruptly resigned Tuesday after its new headquarters was viciously attacked by suspected drug cartel gunmen.

All 14 police officers in Los Ramones, a rural town in northern Mexico, fled the force in terror after gunmen fired more than 1,000 bullets and flung six grenades at their headquarters on Monday night.

No one was injured in the attack. Mayor Santos Salinas Garza told local media that the officers resigned because of the incident.

The gunmen’s 20-minute shooting spree destroyed six police vehicles and left the white and orange police station pocked with bullet holes, the Financial Times reported.

The station had been inaugurated just three days earlier.

The attack was the second in less than a week against police forces in Nuevo Leon. Last week, thugs threw two grenades at police in Sabinas Hidalgo, according to newspaper Noroeste.

Los Ramones is in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, which has been a war zone of turf violence between two of the country’s fiercest drug gangs, the Zetas and the Gulf cartel.

Police have blamed members of both cartels for attacks on several police stations throughout the area. Several mayors in the region have been assassinated.

Mexico’s municipal police forces often quit out of fear after being attacked by cartels.

About 90% of forces have less than 100 officers, and 61% of cops earn less than $322 a month, according to the Finanical Times.

Mexico’s intelligence chief said this summer that nearly 30,000 people have died in drug related crimes since 2006.

KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA – The Kissimmee police department conducted an all day operation encompassing several checks and sting operations.

On October 28, 2010 the Kissimmee police department conducted sex offender checks, pawn shop inspections and prostitution stings. This operation was an all day event that included all areas of the Criminal Investigation Division.

The registered sex offenders that reside within the City limits were contacted as a part of the Department’s quarterly sex offender checks. All offenders were reminded that this coming weekend is Halloween and that they are to adhere to their court appointed restrictions. Detectives also ensured that the offenders did not have any items in front of their homes that would entice children to come and trick or treat.

During the inspection of pawn shops, 18 pawn broker inspection sheets were completed with very few violations noted at the pawn shops.

The Criminal Investigation Division also conducted an internet prostitution sting and a street prostitution reverse. During the operation the following were arrested for Assignation of Prostitution and Entering a Dwelling for Prostitution.

Name DOB City

Shambahran Harimian 4/23/41 Orlando

Samuel Conley 7/20/56 Haines City

Ramon Ayala 10/17/70 Orlando

Dae Hun Byun 5/6/60 Kissimmee

Allison Rice 8/5/74 Tavares was arrested for Prostitution

The following were arrested during the street prostitution reverse and were charged with Assignation to Commit Prostitution.

TABER, CANADA – A Taber farmer who smashed a suspected burglar in the face with a hatchet is facing assault charges.

On May 29, a couple arrived at their home northwest of Taber to discover an unfamiliar vehicle parked in the driveway. The 46-year-old homeowner parked behind the vehicle, trapping it, while he fetched a hatchet, RCMP said.

The man searched the house and found no one inside but soon encountered a man in his 20s trying to escape in the blocked car.

Police said the homeowner struck the man twice with the blunt end of a hatchet, smashing his teeth and face.

The injured suspect ran off but police tracked him down to his home.

Police arrested two other men on a road near the house. All three were charged with breaking and entering.

Now, five months later, police have charged the homeowner with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

“Under the Criminal Code, people can use degrees of force when protecting property or a person, but there are limitations, especially if the courts determine it to be excessive force,” said Sgt. Patrick Webb.

Joseph Bradley Singleton, 46, is charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.